EU Council Presidency Belgium 2024

Twenty-seven swallows in flight. At the lower left, the occasion and year 'BELGIAN PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU 2024'. Above this, along the left edge, the mint marks of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt and the current Belgian mint master Giovanni Van de Velde, along with the initials 'IB' of designer Iris Bruijns. The country code 'BE' is worked into the pattern of swallows on the right.

The Council of the European Union is the EU's central legislative body, bringing together the ministers of the 27 member states to pass laws, adopt the EU budget, and coordinate the Union's foreign policy. The presidency rotates among member states, each holding it for six months. Belgium, one of the founding members of the European Communities in 1957, took on this presidency in the first half of 2024 — the seventh time in the history of European integration. The Belgian presidency fell within a politically significant period: European elections were held in June 2024, and the country bore responsibility for bringing ongoing legislative procedures to a conclusion before the change in the European Parliament.

Belgium occupies a special place in the history of European unification. Since the early decades of integration, Brussels has established itself as the unofficial headquarters of the EU — home to the seats of the European Commission, the European Council, and the Council of the EU. Proximity to European politics is thus, for Belgium, no mere formality but institutionally deeply rooted. The country also bridges the Germanic and Romance linguistic communities of Europe and stands as a living example of coexistence among different cultures within a single nation-state — a motif that mirrors the European idea itself. On the occasion of Belgium's 2024 EU Council presidency, Belgium issued a 2-euro commemorative coin.